Vietnamese painting sells for record VND8 billion
(VOV) - A Vietnamese painting entitled “La Marchand de Riz” (The Rice Seller), by Nguyen Phan Chanh, sold for HK$3.03 million (equivalent to VND8 billion) at a weekend auction by Christie’s International in Hong Kong.
The painting, which was created in 1932, was brought in to the Christie’s headquarters in London by a British person and was initially mistakenly identified as an unsigned Chinese work valued at only US$75.
The painting was later forwarded to specialists in Asia, who recognized the artist’s signature on the back of the canvas. It is still in its original frame by the Parisian framer, Gardin, and it was exhibited in Naples, Italy in 1934.
The artwork was re-evaluated and was subsequently estimated at between HK$800,000 and HK$1 million. Pascal de Sarthe, an art collector in Hong Kong, bought the painting at the auction for HK$3.03 million, setting a record for a painting by a Vietnamese artist.
A drawing by Le Pho sold for HK$2.9 million at a Hong Kong auction in April last year.
Christie’s Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art evening sale on May 25 collected HK$414.95 million in total. The top went to an oil painting by Chang Yu (1901-1966) sold for the highest price, HK$44.67 million, to an Asian collector.
Born in Ha Tinh province, Nguyen Phan Chanh (1892-1984) is considered one of the best Indochinese painters and a pioneer of Vietnamese silk painting.